Why do we have insurance? We have homeowner's insurance, car insurance, health insurance, mortgage insurance, flood insurance, etc.
It's interesting how much money we pay to keep from paying when disaster strikes. I've probably paid enough in insurance premiums on my autos over the last 35 years to buy several new cars, yet I've never filed a claim. I'm in the hole on car insurance, yet it's mandated by the state so too bad, so sad.
I've paid enough in health insurance to die of at least one catastrophic illness so far. I've not received near the benefits for what I have paid for. That's the reward I get for being healthy...so far.
Home owner's insurance is relatively cheap compared to these others, but still no claims, so I'm in the hole there too.
I'm just one unlucky guy. All this insurance for what?
We buy insurance out of fear. We are afraid of illness, afraid of car accidents, afraid of our house burning down, etc. I'm afraid of my kitchen sink backing up too. I wonder if I could get some plumbing insurance. Peace of Mind sure cost a lot of money!
What if there were no such thing as insurance?
Here's how I envision a NO INSURANCE WORLD.
First of all, things would be cheaper because there would be no middle men - or should I say - middle persons. There would be no insurance company that has to make a profit for investors, no insurance company employees to be paid, no insurance company agents that hawk the products.
Second of all, things would be cheaper because you can't charge people more than what they can actually pay. How many times have you heard someone say, "I don't care how much it cost. Insurance is going to pay for it."? Well, if suddenly you did have to pay for it, I bet you'd be a whole lot more careful.
Now I do believe in charging what the market will bear. I own a small business and I like to make as much as I can, but there are these nasty trouble makers out there called competitors who keep me from charging too much.
So, thirdly, free market competition would work in favor of consumers.
And, I've always wondered how it would be if a doctor actually had to fill out a bill and hand it to you face to face. I doubt if they even know how much they charge. And what about guarantees? Have you ever heard of a doctor guaranteeing their service? Under a free market, free of insurance, you would have lower prices and guarantees. I guarantee it.
HUGE PROBLEM
We could rid ourselves of all this insurance nonsense if only we would act in mass. All we would have to do is opt out of every kind of insurance all at the same time. I would hazard a guess that the cost of all the things we buy insurance for would drop by at least half immediately. The problem is, the mass of Western humanity thinks Safety from everything is a God given right. And if you don't believe in God, Safety is a State given right.
But, personal responsibility is too scary, too adult like. So... I think I'll lobby for some plumbing insurance. After all, I'm a plumber. I'll be able to charge more if insurance is going to pay for it anyway. And you won't have to take care of your plumbing. Insurance will pay for it when it breaks. I'll buy some stock in the Plumbing Insurance Company of America, and we'll all be happy.
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On the trusting God part, should we not store up our own money for a rainy day? What if we were self insured?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, one should save money for anything one wants to save money for. Today's society, in the West - North America and Europe predominantly - deems insurance and what it pays for an inalienable Right. Who or what is God? I would say most of Europe and about 60% of the United States would define the State as God.
ReplyDeleteHere's the question to ask "the man on the street."
Who do you depend on for ________________? The answer tells you who is God.
On the self insurance part. My main point is the mere existence of insurance drives costs way up. Walk into any health care center and tell them, "I will pay in cash. What's the best you can do?" and the price will automatically be less. Shop around and do this and it will cost even less. This is what a market driven economy does. It forces doctors (and everyone else) to compete. With insurance, you don't shop and you never ask the costs before service. You just hand them your copay card. There is no competition. That's why I advocate the fix is to dump insurance altogether.
The worst possible scenario is to trust government to fix it. YOU live in the most affluent nation on this earth in all of history. (WHY?) If you don't get involved and stop your government from spending us into oblivion, your grandchildren will curse you. They will have to figure out a way to pay for your excess.